Mirror Mirror
by Mcat9905
Summary: "I'm your lark-mirror, and you can't escape me. There isn't any pimple, not a trace of one. So what about it? Suppose the mirror started telling lies? Or suppose I covered my eyes and refused to look at you, all that loveliness would be wasted. No, don't be afraid. I shan't turn my eyes away. And I'll be nice to you, ever so nice. Only you must be nice to me, too." -Sartre, No Exit


Mirror Mirror

Once upon a time, in a kingdom not so far away, there lived a little girl. This little girl had platinum hair like the first rays of dawn, and skin as soft and light as a water lily. Her father loved her very much, for she was very beautiful, and a beautiful princess would marry young. He would say to her, "My daughter, truly you are the fairest in the land." And the little girl would smile, her pearly white teeth gleaming.

Time passed, and the princess discovered that she had a wonderful gift. She could perform magic. Whenever she saw her beloved father, she would bestow upon him her latest creation. Sometimes it was a cloak of invisibility, or armor that could be pierced by no metal known to man. And every time she presented him with something magical, he would smile at her and say, "Thank you, my daughter. You truly are the fairest in the land." And the girl would smile at him sweetly, happy with the knowledge that her father loved her.

The sun set and seasons passed, and it eventually came time for a girl of the princess's age to find a suitor. Her father called ball after ball, but the princess would not be pleased. None of these men were suitable for a lady as fair as she. Eventually, her father grew impatient, and one evening he burst out, "Oh, wretched girl! How dare you deny every man you see! At this rate, not even a cobbler would take on a wench such as you!"

The princess was distraught. Her father was displeased with her beauty! Yet he had always told her she was the fairest in the land. Surely she was?

The princess hated not knowing which was true. That very night she grabbed a hand mirror from her bureau and enchanted it so that it may only speak the truth. She asked it, "Mirror, Mirror in my hand, who is fairest in the land?"

And the mirror replied, "You, my princess, are the fairest in the land." Then the princess smiled, and was once again at ease.

Years passed, and still none were suitable for her tastes. Finally her father commanded that the next royal to seek her hand would be her betrothed, and that was that.

In a kingdom rather nearby, a King and Queen were expecting a child. The newborn princess had ebony hair and lips blood red and skin as fair as fresh snow. However, the Queen died during labor. The King was heartbroken. Not knowing what to do for the motherless child, he turned to a nearby kingdom looking for a wife. The princess' father could not believe his luck; an eligible bachelor has finally claimed his princess.

The new Queen was ecstatic, and the wedding was grand. She smiled her pearly smile through the years to come, and loved her stepdaughter very much. Then one day, nearly four years after her birth, the King was playing with his beloved daughter. As he bounced the laughing girl upon his knee, he exclaimed, "My beautiful Snow White, you truly are the fairest in the land!"

And the Queen's smile froze.

.oOo.

It wasn't hard to figure out what would happen next. She had been told numerous times the tales of what happened to little children who were lost in the woods. Sometimes they were clever and left breadcrumbs behind them, sometimes they were fortunate enough to find a cottage with porridge and a chair and a bed. Snow White was not taught to be clever, and she certainly didn't feel fortunate now. It was very kind of the Huntsman to have spared her life, and of course she was extremely grateful for his actions, but she had to wonder if he had thought them through. The night was getting ever closer, and she was getting scared.

 _On the bright side,_ Snow White thought to herself, _at least I haven't run into any creatures yet!_

Now, it must be understood that Snow White was, as previously mentioned, not taught to be clever and, as a princess, did not have much experience with life outside of her castle. Therefore, she did not know how dangerous it was to jinx herself while on an impromptu quest. When the wolves around her started growling, she was most surprised.

 _Oh dear,_ she thought as her heart sank in her chest and her blood ran cold. She couldn't tell how many wolves there were or how far away, but she knew that she would most probably not survive an encounter with them. So, with a slight stumble and a small "eep!" of terror, she grabbed her skirts, picked a direction, and started to run. It came as no surprise that the wolves gave chase.

The trees blurred as she ran past, swift as she possibly could. The wolves were behind her, and gaining. She extended her arm and wrapped her hand around a sapling, using it to fling herself around a sharp corner. The rough bark skinned her dainty hand, but she hardly noticed. All she wanted was to get away from the wolves, which had changed direction with her and were still closing in. She pumped her legs even harder, to the point where she might have feared her shoes falling off from the motion if she had had the energy to spare such a thought. And yet the wolves still pursued. A fallen tree lay before her, and with a burst of desperation she leaped over it. But her dress caught and she stumbled.

For a moment she was dazed, but then she heard the growls getting closer, and she grew desperate. With a frantic cry, she wrenched her skirts from the bark and stumbled away. However, there was a steep hill behind her, and she started rolling, rolling, rolling _rolling rolling ROLLING-_

 _-SMACK!-_

Deep in a forest in the dark of night, a little princess rolled down a hill and bumped her head, rendering her unconscious. Above her wolves were growling and sniffing, pawing the ground anxiously. Yet for some reason they could no longer find her. While annoyed at the loss of their prey, the night was still young. The wolves moved on to another part of the forest, and the princess was left alone.

None of them suspected that magic was involved.

.oOo.

Narcissa was most upset. Anyone would suspect it, based on her clenched hands and tightened neck. For a mirror with relative omnipotence of all things, however, it was extremely obvious. Especially for one that had known her for so many years.

"Mirror, Mirror, gleaming bright; where oh where is good Snow White?" Narcissa asked pleasantly, with the hint of a command. _She really is good at hiding it if one didn't know her._

The Mirror answered, "Beyond the mountains where seven dwarves mine; lays a cottage where she may reside." Perhaps if she were not so angry, Narcissa might have noticed that the voice of her Mirror was rougher, and that the rhyme was not perfect. As it was, she had already turned away with a swirl of her skirts. If one listened closely, they would be able to hear her muttering to herself about fire.

The Mirror watched Snow White as she was falling, falling, falling. Not too very far away was a cottage in which seven dwarves lived. Perhaps if she had not fallen down the hill she would have made it there. As it was, the Mirror could only send the wolves away and hope that she had survived her tumble.

.oOo.

"Heigh ho! Heigh ho! It's off to work we go!" a group of merry little men were whistling on their walk home from work. It did not matter that they were not actually heading to work; it was simply a happy tune that they would always sing while travelling. It kept the mood light during the long walk.

Suddenly there was a gasp from the front of the line, and everything halted. six heads appeared on either side of the dwarf leading the pack, to see what had caused such alarm. It didn't take long for them to see why. Their cottage, with seven little beds and seven little mugs and enough food to last another month at least had been burned to the ground. The dwarves were heartbroken, but they knew they could not sleep in the forest that night. Wild beasts were hunting.

With heavy hearts they turned around and went back to the mines to sleep in their shelter. None could bring themselves to whistle.

.oOo.

Narcissa smiled to herself. She knew that the cottage had burned to the ground. Nothing remained but ashes and stone. Snow White must have perished in the fire.

She lifted her beloved, truth-telling mirror and asked it, "Mirror Mirror in my hand, who is fairest in the land?"

And the Mirror responded, "You, my Queen, are fair, 'tis true; But Snow White, in the Eastern Mountain cave; Is still a thousand times fairer than you."

" _What?"_ The Queen snarled.

"You, my Queen are fair-"

"Be silent!" She shouted. Tossing the Mirror to the bed, Narcissa rose and began to pace her chambers. There was no way that Snow White could have survived the fire, which meant she must have been out when it occurred. How careless to have let something like that slip. Clearly sending pure magic over long distances would not be effective.

And _a thousand times fairer?_ Her Mirror absolutely must have been exaggerating. But the Mirror could tell no lies… She would simply have to get rid of Snow White another way.

She could not possibly go to the Eastern cave of the mountain herself. Instead, she climbed to the tallest tower of the castle and began summoning imps. The little vermin were always pining for attention, playing nasty pranks whenever the opportunity arose. They would be perfect.

"In the Eastern cave of the mountains is a girl of ebony hair. I want you to go to her and torment her in every way you can think of. When she is dead let me know."

The imps swarmed off with glee, cackling all the way. Narcissa took a deep breath and sighed, then went back down the tower to comb her platinum hair.

.oOo.

In many mines, it is typical to find a small bird of some sort, to give warning when something is amiss. As the dwarves relit their lanterns and attempted to find comfortable alcoves in which they may rest their weary heads, a bird would have done them well.

Maybe they died in the explosion. Maybe they were crushed by the collapsing mine. Maybe the leaking gas that caused the explosion filled their lungs. Regardless of the cause of death, the seven dwarves who mined the mountain were never seen or heard from again.

.oOo.

Groggy eyes opened slowly. Her head was pounding uncomfortably and she was covered in dirt and scratches, but Snow White was absolutely alive.

And _wow_ was she hungry. After checking that no bones were broken she brushed herself off and began wandering the woods for something that hopefully wouldn't poison her. Goodness knows there were plenty of berries that were absolutely not to be eaten.

.oOo.

An owl flew to the window of the tallest tower, where Narcissa was drumming her fingernails against the railing. She loved her fingernails. They were just long enough to click on stone, while short enough not to get caught on anything. Perfect.

The owl landed beside her hand and peered up at her with wide eyes. The Queen smiled. She had asked the imps to let her know when the little brat was dead, and here was a messenger. How marvelous. She stroked her platinum hair, waiting patiently.

"Dragon." The owl hooted. The Queen froze. With a flap of its wings the owl rose into the sky and vanished into the clouds. Narcissa's fingers stopped drumming, and they stopped stroking her hair.

"A dragon…" she murmured to herself. That was either very good news, or very, very bad news. She twirled on her heel and began marching back down, down the stairs to her chambers. Her shoes made clicking noises like her fingernails had. She liked the sound.

 _One of two things has occurred,_ the Queen thought to herself. _Hopefully Snow White was offed by the dragon. She couldn't possibly have survived such an encounter. On the other hand, she may not have been inside the cave long enough to have her pretty little head ripped off. That would mean that the imps just tormented a dragon in her place. That would be very, VERY bad._

Her door slammed open without her even extending her hand. That happened sometimes. Magic truly had its perks, if one were calm enough to notice them.

"Mirror Mirror gleaming bright; Did a dragon kill Snow White?" Her knuckles were growing paler as her grip on the Mirror tightened.

"No." The Mirror responded.

What little color she had drained from her face. If the dragon didn't kill the princess then the imps had just made it angry. That was bad bad bad. She dropped the Mirror and ran as fast as she could back to the tower. This had to be taken care of right away.

 _I wonder if she's eaten recently._ The Mirror thought to himself. _She looks like she hasn't had a bite since she first heard the princess was fairer._ No one could see the Mirror smiling, but if someone happened to have been holding it at that moment, they might have felt the glee running along their fingertips, and wondered wherever it came from.

Narcissa reached the top of the tower out of breath. It would not do, not do to be seen in such a state. She took a moment to calm herself, then called for a raven and a dove. One was sent to the imps. They were to keep the dragon in the cave as long as they possibly could. The other was sent to every magical creature in the land. If one were to find Snow White, they must dispose of her immediately.

With a sigh, the Queen sank to the floor. She wiped her brow and put a smile on her face. All this worrying would absolutely ruin her complexion.

.oOo.

She could not breathe she could _not breathe_ she COULD NOT BREATHE! Snow White staggered, clutching a small hand to her throat. Eating the apple had seemed a wonderful idea at the time, with her being so hungry. Besides, apples weren't dangerous. But she had been so eager to eat that she had bitten off more than she could chew, and was very much regretting it now. Her head felt fuzzy, her feet unstable, and her eyes were not seeing like they should.

It was rather fortunate that there was a small ledge for her to stumble down, causing her to fall over yet again. If one were paying attention, they might notice a piece of apple dislodge from her throat and her breathing even out. She had fallen unconscious yet again.

The Mirror shook his metaphorical head. Some people really had all the luck.

.oOo.

In an empty cave on the Eastern side of the mountain, a dozen imps cackled shrilly. A dove had just come to tell them to keep a dragon busy for as long as they could. A _dragon!_ Some people were really too gullible. This was what they lived for.

.oOo.

Narcissa hummed to herself pleasantly, thin lips painted. She had been trying on dresses, and had noticed that she was slimmer than ever before. The tailor had been lying to her, the dresses fit like a glove. She didn't like it, did not like it at all, when people lied to her. That was why she had a truth-telling Mirror. She really didn't like people lying to her.

With a twirl of her skirts she made a decision. The tailor would have to go. He should never be allowed to lie again.

She really did hate it when people lied to her.

.oOo.

Marius was bored. This was supposed to be his first solo quest! He had hoped it would be daring, full of adventure and monsters and damsels in distress. Instead he was stuck here with a bloodless sword and a scratchless shield. Phoebus had made solo questing seem like a lot more fun than it was turning out to be. But a Prince mustn't complain. A Prince had to be stiff and boring and always in pristine order.

Marius sighed, flopping dramatically onto a fallen tree. He just wished something dangerous would come along! The Mirror winced. He should know better than to jinx himself while on a quest!

"Uuuugh!" He groaned to himself, leaning back and lying across the tree. "This suuuuuucks."

As he sprawled, frowning at a particularly green leaf, he heard a rustling sound and heavy footsteps. The Prince's ears perked up and he tensed, slowly rising back to his feet. Quiet as a church mouse, he tiptoed between the fallen leaves towards the source of the noise, careful not to so much as breathe audibly.

He peered around a bush and grinned. What a stroke of luck! A large, gray creature was loping North at a slow pace. He appeared to be humanoid, and might have blended in with a rock if there had been any nearby. But the real treasure was the little girl squirming in his arms. She didn't look like much-actually, she looked really dirty, like she'd been wandering the woods for days-but a damsel in distress was a damsel in distress.

"Would you put me down please?" The girl begged. The creature only grunted in response. Assuming his tutors had been right, then the creature was most likely a mountain troll. His grin broadened. A mountain troll would be easy to take down.

Looking quickly about, he judged where the troll would be soon. Quick as a gazelle he slung his shield over his back, sheathed his sword and began to shimmy up a tree overhanging the path. Luckily, the troll didn't notice. As he lie in wait, he grabbed his shield and held it over the branch.

Everyone knew the way to defeat a troll was to give it a good smack to the nose. Just before the troll was right below him, he dropped the shield.

It occurred to him as his shield fell that it might hit the maiden on the way down. Ah, whatever.

.oOo.

"Tssssssssk! Ow ow ow ow ow!" Snow White hissed to herself, rubbing her foot. It was quite a stroke of luck that the big scary creature had dropped her, but she had landed funny and now it hurt. The woods were absolutely not a fun place.

She heard a thump, followed by a boy's voice ask "Are you alright?"

He couldn't have been too much older than her, because he wasn't particularly tall, but he had a sword and was dressed very nicely and looked altogether much more comfortable right now than she was. She nodded to him, but didn't move to get up. He nodded back and unsheathed his sword, advancing towards the creature. Snow White looked away with a start. She could still hear the noise of the blade though.

The boy turned to her. "Can you walk?"

"I don't think so." She looked down at her foot. It didn't appear to be badly hurt, but it sure felt funny.

The boy frowned. "Well, I can't exactly leave you here…" He examined his surroundings, then grabbed his shield and handed it to her. "I'll carry you if you carry my shield." Snow White knew her the big grin that spread across her face wasn't ladylike, but she couldn't help it. He had offered to let her carry a real shield! That was so cool!

He laughed and helped her get on, piggyback style. As they walked away from the creature he looked at her. "Forgive my rudeness. My name is Prince Marius."

"And I am Princess Snow White." She responded, bowing her head a little.

His eyebrows shot up. "A princess? You don't look like a princess right now."

So she laughed and began her tale.

.oOo.

Narcissa was admiring herself. She loved the way her skirts twirled. She loved the noise her light feet made when stepping from place to place. She loved her pearly white smile and her light hair and her skin as fair as the water lily-wait. Fair skin.

She stood with a huff. Surely the little twat must be dead by now. She raised her Mirror and asked it, "Mirror Mirror in my hand; who is fairest in the land?"

And the Mirror responded, "You, my Queen, were once fair, 'tis true; But Snow White will always be a million times fairer than you."

The Queen froze. "A… _million_ times fairer?" She was smiling, smiling a large smile that threatened to tear her cheeks. "Mirror, show me myself."

"This is what you look like." The Mirror answered, Its glass showing her her face. Narcissa screamed and dropped the Mirror onto the bed. She was _hideous._ Her hair was graying and scraggly and falling out in more than one place. Her delicate nose was oversized and warty. Her sparkling eyes were sunken and greedy, demanding demanding demanding. And her beautiful, flawless, fair skin was covered in spots and pimples and wrinkles and pimples and pimples and wrinkles and-

"Aauuugh!" She screamed again, "I will _slaughter_ that girl if it's the last thing I do!" The Queen stalked down, down, down the stairs into the dungeons. If she wanted anything done properly she would have to send out a servant of her own making. _Nobody_ could be allowed to see her like this.

As she disappeared, the Mirror started laughing to himself. It grew and grew until he was positively roaring. "Serves you right." He said to an empty room. "Serves you right."

.oOo.

"So then she said to Phoebus," the Prince laughed, making his voice high in imitation, "if you don't come down here _right now-"_

Snow White laughed along with him. The time spent off of her leg had served her well, and she could now walk alongside the Prince, albeit at a somewhat lopsided gait. Marius didn't care though. He liked laughing with her like this, and he knew she did too. He could practically see the adoration in her eyes.

But something started bothering him, nagging in the back of his mind. It felt like they were being watched, and quite probably followed. Marius didn't like that. A prince should face his foes directly. It was the honorable thing to do. So he extended a hand to halt the little princess, "Snow White, could you hand me my shield?"

Feeling that there was danger now, she passed it to him silently. They waited, watching the surroundings for any movement. Then they heard the heavy footsteps.

"Stay by me," he ordered, "but if I tell you to run, you run as fast as you can, and don't look back. I'll come find you" She nodded her head once sharply. Then the monster appeared in the clearing, and the Prince swore.

"It must be from the Queen!" Snow White cried, hiding herself behind his back. She was probably right, which meant that she had to get out of here, _now._

"Run! Head East!" He yelled, and Snow White started running. Her strides were still lopsided, but hopefully she would be able to get far enough away.

He faced the creature, which had watched her run off. It started to follow. "Oh no you don't!" The Prince cried, and swung his sword. Not that it would do him much good here. If that creature was a golem, like he thought it was, then any slicing or dicing would have no effect. He had to break the eye, and that was most likely on the Queen.

Marius was scared. He didn't think he could defeat a foe like this. But he had to keep it from Snow White. With a roar of determination, he lunged at the golem.

.oOo.

Narcissa was freaking out. It was impossible for her to look so horribly ugly. It was impossible for Snow White to be _a million_ times fairer than her. It was impossible for her to have escaped the fire, and the dragon, and every magical creature in the forest. Something was not right. She had a sneaking suspicion that she was being lied to, lied to. She did not like being lied to.

She picked up her Mirror and began examining it. It looked the same as it always had. There were no juices coating it or letters engraved that she hadn't carved herself. It should still be working properly.

"Show me myself." She ordered.

The Mirror hummed in her hand. "This is how I see you." And the glass changed to show her chambers. But she wasn't in the reflection. She turned the Mirror around, checked every angle, and demanded to be shown herself again. Still nothing changed. Nothing changed. She could not see herself in her Mirror.

That was wrong wrong wrong. Something had to be wrong with her Mirror. She began examining its magic and immediately recoiled.

 _That_ wasn't always there.

"Who are you?" She demanded angrily. "And what are you doing in my Mirror?"

The Mirror seemed to laugh. "You mean you don't remember? How rude. After all, it was you who put me in here, _my Queen."_ The way it was said was so mocking, mocking, mocking her and she hated it. Hated it.

"I have put _no one_ in my Mirror." She hissed.

"Are you sure?" It sounded like her Mirror was _smiling._ "Not even a horrible lying Huntsman?"

And the Queen froze.

The Huntsman. The _Huntsman._ The Huntsman who had first _lied_ to _her_ when he brought back the heart of _good little Snow White._ The Huntsman who she had enslaved in her Truth Telling Mirror, where he would _never lie to her again._ The Huntsman who she had forgotten entirely about, and who _would not show her her reflection._

"Show me myself." She demanded again. The Mirror laughed. He had the damn Huntsman's deep laugh. "SHOW ME MYSELF!"

"I won't." He replied. "You are nothing to me. You would be just as good dead."

The Queen was _furious._ She was not _nothing, nothing,_ she was not _ugly, hideous,_ she was not _worthless, dead, so wretched not even a cobbler would want to marry her._ She was _Queen Narcissa_ and the Mirror had been _LYING TO HER!_

With a roar she raised the Mirror high above her head, then brought it swiftly down. Just before it hit the floor, something within it _pushed out,_ and the glass shattered.

Narcissa screamed, then was silent.

.oOo.

Royal blood spilled over the forest floor. The Prince would not rise. Not too far away, a pile of dirt and bone lay heaped on the ground. Without the Queen as a source of power, the Golem had died.

And Snow White ran.


End file.
